Recently we made weekend getaway trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, staying downtown in the Hilton Milwaukee City Center hotel.
It was our second stay in this historic Art Deco hotel opened for business in 1928 during the era when Al Capone resided in Milwaukee.
At 265 feet, the hotel was Wisconsin’s tallest when it opened with 811 guest rooms.
This hotel underwent major renovations in 1972 and again in 1994. In 1995, Hilton Hotels acquired the famed property and renamed it the Hilton Milwaukee City Center.
Today we love the Hilton Milwaukee City Center’s elaborate and distinctive Art Deco design and furnishings, combined with a few modern conveniences.
We stayed on the 20th floor in Room 2029.
This room is comfortable and has some nice design touches like the round mirrors.
Like many historic hotels, the bathrooms are tiny.
So tiny, that it is impossible to capture with one photo.
This is the view from the window of Room 2020. If you look closely at the right-hand side of the photo, you can see Lake Michigan in the distance. Perhaps the rooms on the 21st floor and higher have a better view?
This desk lamp is obviously new, but its design fits in nicely with the Art Deco theme.
The best original detailing shines in the hotel’s lobby and its Monarch Lounge.
The television distracts a bit from the charm of the original fixtures in the Monarch Lounge.
The cocktails are expertly crafted.
The Milwaukee Hilton City Center has a historic feature we love: a working mail drop on each floor.
On a prior weekend stay, we enjoyed the executive lounge. During our recent stay, the lounge was closed on weekends. Hilton Honors Diamond members are given breakfast certificates worth $12, which covers the cost of the Continental buffet or many other items off the menu in The Cafe.
Casual Milwaukee pub favorites such as brats are served in the Miller Time Pub & Grill on the hotel’s street level.
Beer cheese soup is another local favorite at the Miller Time Pub & Grill.
For the kids, and the kids-at-heart, the Milwaukee Hilton City Center hotel also features a 20,000-square-foot indoor water park.
Being in Wisconsin, this hotel is connected to its parking garage by skywalk. Self-parking in the garage is a steep $24 per day.
Our bottom line impressions of the Hilton Milwaukee City Center
- The historic Art Deco hotel lobby and other furnishings take you back to an earlier, grand era.
- The Monarch Lounge in the lobby is a perfect spot for cocktails and people-watching. Except, perhaps, during the Kentucky Derby.
- The hotel’s rooms are comfortable, but the bathrooms are compact.
- The cafe offers an excellent breakfast buffet or menu items, while the Miller Time Pub & Grill is the place for local Wisconsin pub favorites. (Try the fried cheese curds.)
What’s your favorite hotel in Milwaukee?
You may also want to take a quick look inside these other hotels:
- A Peek Inside the Prague Marriott Hotel
- A Peek Inside the Four Seasons Hotel-Denver
- A Peek inside the Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel – San Francisco
- A Peek Inside the Hilton New York Fashion District Hotel
- A Peek Inside Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton Hotel
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